Hi Guys

I am trying to figure out the problem with this drive.
It failed on a laptop of a client so he brought it to me.
I connected it to DC and it was recognizing and moved to Ready State, but it wasn't smooth, i could hear the hdd buzzing and struggling.
I thought that i will give it a go with the Data Copy King, so i tried to image it, it was running for few hours with a lot of bad sectors and suddenly it crushed and couldn't be recognized anymore in all the gear, it stays busy since then in DC and HD DOCTOR.
It doing a really annoying buzzing sound continuously until it goes quite after a minute or so.

I opened it in a clean room and seen the following behavior:
The motor seems to be fine as far as i understand - it runs smoothly.
Heads are bouncing from side to side, from ramp to the middle of the platters.

I also noticed 2 tiny dark marks on the edge of the platters from both sides of it, don't know if it is part of the model
or just damaged areas on the platter, would love your advise.

I am suspecting it is heads problem, but afraid that after i will replace them, it will be a platter issue.

Any thoughts would be good.

Please find terminal input below:

Segate Momentus 5400.2 ST9120821AS
-------------------------------------


e task reset
4096k x 16 buffer detected
MLITE - 1_Disk M-28 03-
Buzz - 15-05 20:16
Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Error Reading Boot Adaptives
(
F>v4
OK
OK
OK
Check sum Error
(
F>
F>
F>
F>
F>y
PhysCyl GrayCyl
First System Cylinder 0000CC19 0000E471
First Zero Offset Cylinder 0000CC23 0000E476
First App Code Cylinder 0000CC2F 0000E47C
Second App Code Cylinder 0000CC31 0000E47D
Second Zero Offset Cylinder 0000CC3D 0000E483
Third App Code Cylinder 0000CC49 0000E489
Fourth App Code Cylinder 0000CC4B 0000E48A
Last System Cylinder 0000CD46 0000E59E
F>(
F>v1
OK
OK
OK
Check sum Error
(
F>
F>v2
OK
OK
OK
Check sum Error
(
F>
F>R

Buzz - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF - Head Mask FFFF -

i guess this is smart issue
post the log for it here

_________________
Kuwait Data Recovery - UNIX GTC
The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once. By: Albert Einstein

hi,
this drive can't read boot adptives and didn't load APPCODE...
looking at the log at power on and when you try to read boot adaptives (R command) IMHO is head related problem.
first you can try with a loader and see what happens
Bye
Luca

_________________
Data Recovery pro in Italy
www.ultrarecovery.com

Thanks Luca,

What do you mean by "first you can try with a loader and see what happens"?

Thanks,
Oded

hi Oded,
with Hd Doctor you can load in RAM the modules (APP, CERT, CERT TAB, ATA ...) that's a loader.
i I would try to load APP code and see if you can reach age50 in T> mode and do some read tests.
another option is to set the cache value (check changelog on seagate doctor 5.x) and try to read modules in F> mode.
May be you can see if it's really a head problem or is a firmware problem.. but as i told you i think heads is most propable.
Bye
Luca

_________________
Data Recovery pro in Italy
www.ultrarecovery.com

Thanks Luca,

In HD Doctor the hdd stays in Busy state, can i still use it to load modules?
I will need the firmware in this case i assume.

Cheers for the tips,
Oded

yes you can use the loader with a busy drive.
If you can read from F mode you can check which modules you need but anyway you'll need a donor firmware.
Bye
Luca

_________________
Data Recovery pro in Italy
www.ultrarecovery.com

Hi Folks,

Did head swap with what looks like an identical donor.
Same P/N, Model, Firmware and PCB version(green one on PCB).
Actually did 2, first one failed, second one looks like the actual heads are working.
But still a problem, it stays busy again.
It threw a message on terminal like "unsupported pre-amp version" or something similar.

Any thoughts will be appreciated.
Will post the log tomorrow.

Cheers Mates,
Oded

Does your donor have the same 'site code' as the patient drive?

_________________
Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.
Data Recovery Cape Town

I will check it tomorrow.
How important is the site code?

In my experience it's important. If site code is different it might be the reason the preamps aren't the same.

_________________
Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.
Data Recovery Cape Town

Yes different site code can result in not-matching preamps.

_________________
http://www.northwind.gr
SandForce SSD Recovery
Ransomware Reverse Engineering - NoMoreRansom! partners

Hi Guys,

Just had a look, site code is the same on patient and donor drives

Hi Guys,

I did another head swap(third) from an identical donor drive and it was successful.
Although the drive won't move to ready state, it stays on busy state.

The terminal log shows:
"Interface task reset
4096k x 16 buffer detected
MLITE - 1_Disk M-28 03-
Buzz - 15-05 20:16
Head Mask FFFF - Switch to full int.
Spin Ready
Error Reading Boot Adaptives
(
F>"

It seems like it can't read the boot adaptives, does it read it from the actual platters or from an eeprom on the PCB?
Any suggestions how to get pass this issue?

Cheers,
Oded

If pcb is original you need to change head again .

NOT TRUE.

PCB is the original and this is the 3'rd heads replacement i did.
2 looked successful but displayed the same:
"Interface task reset
4096k x 16 buffer detected
MLITE - 1_Disk M-28 03-
Buzz - 15-05 20:16
Head Mask FFFF - Switch to full int.
Spin Ready
Error Reading Boot Adaptives
(
F>"

Is it possible that there is a damage on the platter were it is stored?

TRUE, for at least 3 cases. I wouldn't put my life on this bet, but when we used a perfect match (Site included), all went well. At least 3 times i remember. Maybe it was a coincidence?

_________________
http://www.northwind.gr
SandForce SSD Recovery
Ransomware Reverse Engineering - NoMoreRansom! partners

From my experience I agree with northwind.

_________________
Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.
Data Recovery Cape Town

I concur, site code is important. I think it increases the chance of heads being incompatible.